PressClub Greece · Article.
BMW Motorsport News – Issue 44/16
Mon Nov 21 13:02:44 CET 2016 Δελτίο τύπου
Catsburg and Félix da Costa successful in Macau – Wittmann and Glock competing at the 12 Hours of Bathurst.
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Author.
Konstantinos Diamantis
BMW Group
BMW Motorsport News – Issue 44/16
Whether in the DTM, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar
Championship, or countless other championships: week
after week BMW teams and drivers around the world do
battle for points, victories and titles. Away from the
track too, members of the large BMW Motorsport family
around the world are also creating headlines. The “BMW
Motorsport News” allows us to regularly summarise all
the action for you in a compact and informative manner.
This way, you are always up to speed.
FIA GT World Cup: Good Macau debut for
Catsburg.
Nicky Catsburg (NL) from the
ROWE Racing Team claimed seventh place in the FIA GT
World Cup on the legendary “Guia Circuit” in Macau (CN)
on Sunday. He had already concluded the qualifying race
on Saturday with the same result in his BMW M6 GT3.
However, Sunday’s race in the former Portuguese colony
was anything but normal for Catsburg and the team. At
the start of the race, Ricky Capo (AU) in the BMW Z4 GT3
from Team Modena Racing had hit a crash barrier,
necessitating a long interruption to allow repair work
to take place at the “Guia Circuit”. Capo had finished
in 16th place on Saturday. Shortly after the restart,
Audi driver Laurens Vanthoor (BE) survived a terrifying
incident when he clipped the wall and catapulted his car
into the air before crashing to the asphalt,
upside-down. The race was stopped – but victory still
went to Vanthoor as classification was based on the lap
before the incident. “The whole weekend was an
unbelievable experience,” said Catsburg, who also
claimed second place in the “Independence” standings.
“This circuit is unique, and extremely difficult. This
was the first time here for me and the team, so it was a
major challenge. We got faster with each session. But
that main race was just crazy. The main thing is that
Laurens is okay after his accident. The race wasn’t that
exciting for us, as we hardly drove at all. But overall
it was a sensational experience to race the BMW M6 GT3
at high speed, so close to the crash barriers.”
FIA F3 World Cup: Wonderful Macau comeback for
Félix da Costa.
The BMW works driver
António Félix da Costa was the subject of close
attention on his return to the most important Formula 3
event of the year, having won the Macau Grand Prix in
2012 – and the Portuguese driver proved once again why
he is one of the best racers in the world. He dealt
expertly with the challenging street circuit in Macau
(CN) right from the start of the FIA F3 World Cup, and
his dominant performance was rewarded with victory in
the qualifying race. On Sunday, he lost first place to
Sérgio Sette Câmara (BR) at the start but returned to
the lead as the race progressed. Félix da Costa then
crossed the finishing line to claim victory in the FIA
F3 World Cup, repeating his triumph from four years ago.
BMW works driver Alexander Sims (GB) also competed in
Macau, finishing in tenth place in the main race. BMW
Motorsport Junior Joel Eriksson (SE) did not finish.
BMW customer racing: Wittmann and Glock to make
debut in Bathurst.
DTM Champion Marco
Wittmann (DE) and his BMW team-mate Timo Glock (DE) will
contest the legendary 12-hour race of Bathurst (AU) in
Australia in 2017. They will support BMW Team SRM, who
contested the entire 2016 season of the Australian GT
Championship with the BMW M6 GT3. Wittmann will share
stints at the wheel of the number 100 car with team boss
Steve Richards (NZ) and reigning V8 Supercars champion
Mark Winterbottom (AU). Glock will contest the endurance
classic in the number 7 sister car. He will have
Australian motorsport legends Mark Skaife, Russell
Ingall and Tony Longhurst (all AU) at his side. It will
be the debut at the Mount Panorama Circuit (AU) for both
Wittmann and Glock. "It is super exciting to
compete at the 12 Hours of Bathurst," said
Wittmann. "I haven't ever been to Australia, so I
have plenty of new impressions in store, which I am
really looking forward to. I only know the track from a
games console at the moment. It is legendary and will no
doubt be a great deal of fun. I can hardly wait to
complete my first laps there in the BMW M6 GT3."
Glock added: "It is fantastic to return to racing
in Australia after a few years break. I love the country
and the people and always arrived a week before the
Formula 1 races to do some sightseeing. The Australian
Grand Prix in Melbourne was my favourite race. I haven't
driven in Bathurst yet, but the track in the Blue
Mountains is legendary. I'm really looking forward to
the challenge and my first race in the BMW M6 GT3."
DTM: Wittmann entered into two "Golden
Books".
Great honour for Marco
Wittmann: A month after winning his second DTM title, he
was honoured for his exceptional performances on the
racetrack in Fürth (DE) town hall on Monday evening. At
the reception in the historic chamber, Wittmann was
entered into the "Golden Book" of Fürth and of
his former home parish of Markt Erlbach (DE). "The
entry into the 'Golden Book' is a great honour for
me," said the DTM Champion. "Of all the
trophies and awards that I have received, naturally this
is something very special. It isn’t every day that you
are immortalised in two ‘Golden Books’. Since I'm very
attached to my roots, this day means a great deal to me."
DTM: The new BMW M4 DTM clocks up additional
test kilometres.
The preparations for
the 2017 DTM season are still in full swing. This week,
Portimão (PT) hosted the second test of the new
generation BMW M4 DTM from Monday to Thursday. The car,
kitted out with numerous 2017 edition components,
completed its initial kilometres on the racetrack at the
"Motorsport Arena Oschersleben" (DE) at the
end of October. Augusto Farfus (BR) and Bruno Spengler
(CA) were in action for BMW on the 4.692-kilometre track
in Portugal. Together they completed 414 test laps. The
BMW M4 DTM will make its next appearance at the DTM and
Young Driver test in Jerez de la Frontera (ES) from 29th
November to 2nd December.
IWSC: BMW M6 GTLM and BMW M6 GT3 complete test
in Daytona.
The 2017 season of the IMSA
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC) is already
causing a lot of excitement. A two-day test with the BMW
M6 GTLM took place at the "Daytona International
Speedway" (US) on Tuesday and Wednesday. In an
intensive programme, BMW Team RLL prepared the car for
its first racing action of 2017, the 24 Hours of Daytona
(US). The Turner Motorsport team was also in action with
the BMW M6 GT3 in Florida.